As Spicer looks for work, his celebrity rating isn’t helping

WASHINGTON — After a beleaguered six-month run as White House press secretary, Sean Spicer has been shopping his brand for television, book and speaking deals in recent weeks. The latest findings of a celebrity-popularity poll, however, may show why he is a tough sell.

Sixty-four percent of respondents in the survey from E-Score, a polling company used by major talent agencies and TV executives to assess celebrities, had a negative opinion about Spicer, compared with 36 percent who liked him. Spicer’s overall score — based on awareness, appeal and attributes — was 13. In contrast, Oprah Winfrey clocked in at an overall 96 while Megyn Kelly, the former Fox News journalist who now hosts the NBC newsmagazine “Sunday Night With Megyn Kelly,” rated a 52.

The gap in those numbers isn’t totally surprising. During his time in the Trump administration, Spicer had a testy relationship with the news media that played out from the podium before the American public. Also, political figures typically score lower in celebrity market research, and the survey was conducted in April, two months before Spicer resigned his White House post.

“That’s a very high negative score,” Randy Parker, E-Score’s director of marketing, said of Spicer’s appeal.

A talent agency provided POLITICO with the numbers on Spicer, and E-Score gave comparison numbers for other politicians.

His numbers aren’t the lowest in the poll’s ranking of the political class. Jared Kushner, senior adviser and son-in-law of President Donald Trump, scored an overall 5, mainly due to respondents’ lack of awareness of him. Anthony Weiner, the disgraced former congressman awaiting sentencing for sending obscene material to a minor, scored a 2. And even prominent Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who has served South Carolina since 2003, came in at only 6.

After signing with power agent Robert Barnett, Spicer has yet to land a television contract with a major news network despite his interest, according to two people familiar with the matter. He started having meetings with the networks in July, just days after he resigned following Anthony Scaramucci’s appointment as White House communications director.

Fox News, which has expressed some interest, has yet to offer him a contract, according to two sources at the network. (Fox currently employs Dana Perino, President George W. Bush’s former press secretary.) CNN has said that it will not add him as a contributor because of credibility issues related to statements he made from the White House Briefing Room.

One agent from a prominent Hollywood talent agency said it passed over representing Spicer because of E-Score’s findings on his lack of appeal.

While television may not be interested, Spicer has signed with Worldwide Speakers Group for a number of arrangements.

A source close to Spicer said that he had two “traditional” and three “nontraditional” TV deals in the works, as well as “several exciting and lucrative consultancies — foreign and domestic” — and “multiple interested publishers.”

“Sean is doing just fine,” the source said.

Spicer himself said in an email Wednesday night: “I have been thrilled with all of the opportunities that have come my way in several areas since leaving the White House. I could not be happier.”

He does have a relatively high 29 percent awareness rating, likely because of his must-watch briefings that aired on every cable news network, as well as Melissa McCarthy’s caricature of him on “Saturday Night Live” as a rage-a-holic.

Parker compared Spicer’s attributes with the other politicians in E-Score’s database. He noted that Spicer’s aggressiveness score of 28 percent was high compared with other political figures, who averaged 13 percent. His insincerity rating was high, 29 percent, compared with 19 percent for other politicians. Twenty-one percent of respondents called him mean. He scored 19 percent for “cold,” 9 points higher than other politicians.

“His attribute scores are interesting: Thirty-three percent of the people surveyed say he’s rude as compared to the average politicians, who are at 11 percent,” Parker said. “And keep in mind, there are a lot of rude politicians.”

Spicer also had a high “creepy” score of 27 percent, compared with 15 percent for the average politician. Only 6 percent of respondents described Spicer as trustworthy, and 11 percent called him emotional.

The poll, which was conducted April 28, was sent to 1,100 respondents who represent the American television audience. His overall 13 rating from E-score is a percentile ranking in comparison with the other 10,000 celebrities in the database.